“Evidence of Geothermal Activity and Possible Oceans on Dwarf Planets Eris and Makemake, New Observations Suggest”

Evidence of Geothermal Activity and Possible Oceans on Dwarf Planets Eris and Makemake, New Observations Suggest

In the depths of our solar system, two dwarf planets named Eris and Makemake have been discovered to potentially harbor geothermal activity and even oceans of liquid water. These groundbreaking findings were made possible through new observations conducted with the James Webb Space Telescope, shedding light on the mysterious nature of these distant celestial bodies.

Eris, found deep within the Kuiper Belt, is an icy world that caused a major upheaval in our understanding of the solar system when it was discovered in 2005. Just slightly smaller than Pluto but significantly more massive, Eris became the prototype for dwarf planets, ultimately leading to Pluto’s reclassification. Makemake, on the other hand, was spotted shortly after Eris and is slightly smaller than both Eris and Pluto.

Due to their immense distance from the Sun, Eris being 14.4 billion kilometers away and Makemake 7.7 billion kilometers away, very little was known about these enigmatic dwarf planets. However, recent observations with the James Webb Space Telescope have provided us with unprecedented insights into their composition and origins.

“We see some interesting signs of hot times in cool places,” said Christopher Glein, a planetary geochemist from Texas’ Southwest Research Institute. These signs indicate the presence of geothermal activity within Eris and Makemake, potentially generating enough heat to sustain oceans of liquid water beneath their icy surfaces.

The key discovery lies in the presence of methane-ice on the surface of these dwarf planets. Methane is a hydrocarbon formed from a combination of hydrogen and carbon atoms. By analyzing the isotopic ratio of hydrogen within the methane, scientists can determine its origin. If the methane had originated from the primordial planet-forming disk that existed around the young sun billions of years ago, it would exhibit a specific isotopic ratio. However, the hydrogen isotope ratio measured by the James Webb Space Telescope differs from the expected ratio, indicating a geochemical origin for the methane.

“We found evidence pointing to thermal processes producing methane from within Eris and Makemake,” explained Glein. “Our data suggest elevated temperatures in the rocky cores of these worlds so that methane can be cooked up.”

This suggests that hydrothermal reactions or metamorphic activity within the rocky cores of Eris and Makemake are responsible for the production of methane. The methane then makes its way to the surface through outgassing or even volcanism. To generate methane in this manner, temperatures exceeding 150 degrees Celsius are required, which can only be achieved through the decay of radioactive isotopes present within the rocky cores.

The implications of these findings are profound. The outgassing of methane onto the surface of Eris and Makemake may have been occurring until relatively recently in geological terms. This indicates the possibility of habitable oceans beneath their icy exteriors.

“If Eris and Makemake hosted, or perhaps could still host warm, or even hot, geochemistry in their rocky cores, cryovolcanic processes could then deliver methane to the surfaces of these planets, perhaps in geologically recent times,” said Will Grundy of Lowell Observatory.

Moreover, the models developed to explain the formation and outgassing of methane on Eris and Makemake could also apply to Saturn’s moon Titan. Previous research had cast doubt on the habitability of Titan’s subsurface ocean due to the inability of methane and other carbon-based molecules to reach it. However, if these gases can form geothermally within Titan’s rocky core, as they do on Eris and Makemake, then Titan’s ocean could receive its supply of carbon chemistry from within the moon itself.

The findings regarding methane observations on Eris and Makemake have been published in the April 2024 issue of the journal Icarus. These discoveries open up new possibilities for understanding the potential habitability of distant celestial bodies and provide further insights into the complex processes occurring within our vast solar system.